Doctors puzzled over bizarre infection surfacing in South Texas

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Doctors puzzled over bizarre infection surfacing in South Texas

Web Posted: 05/12/2006 10:51 AM CDT

Deborah Knapp

KENS 5 Eyewitness News

If diseases like AIDS and bird flu scare you, wait until you hear what's

next. Doctors are trying to find out what is causing a bizarre and mysterious

infection that's surfaced in South Texas.

Morgellons disease is not yet known to kill, but if you were to get it, you

might wish you were dead, as the symptoms are horrible.

" These people will have like beads of sweat but it's black, black and tarry, "

said Ginger Savely, a nurse practioner in Austin who treats a majority of

these patients.

Patients get lesions that never heal.

" Sometimes little black specks that come out of the lesions and sometimes

little fibers, " said , Morgellons patient.

Web extras

May 23:

Web chat: _Read the transcript of a Web chat with Ginger Savely_

(http://www.mysanantonio.com/specials/weblogs/livechats/2006/05/morgellons_disea\

se_chat.ht

ml)

May 22:

_CDC forming Morgellons task force_

(http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/medical/stories/MYSA052206.morgellonsfolo.KENS\

..12913d3a.html) Video: _Watch the

broadcast_

(http://www2.mysanantonio.com/multimedia/video/NewsOnDemand/index.cfm?videos=381\

53)

May 11:

_Doctors puzzled over bizarre infection surfacing in South Texas_

(http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/medical/stories/MYSA051106.morgellans.KENS.320\

30524.htm

l) Video: _Watch the broadcast_

(http://www2.mysanantonio.com/multimedia/video/NewsOnDemand/index.cfm?videos=379\

55)

Web exclusive interview: _Ginger Savely talks more on Morgellons_

(http://mysa.vo.llnwd.net/o2/audio/KENS/051106morgellons.mp3) Web link:

_Morgellons

Research Foundation_ (http://www.morgellons.org/)

Patients say that's the worst symptom — strange fibers that pop out of your

skin in different colors.

" He'd have attacks and fibers would come out of his hands and fingers, white,

black and sometimes red. Very, very painful, " said , whose son

had Morgellon's disease.

While all of this is going on, it feels like bugs are crawling under your

skin. So far more than 100 cases of Morgellons disease have been reported in

South Texas.

" It really has the makings of a horror movie in every way, " Savely said.

While Savely sees this as a legitimate disease, there are many doctors who

simply refuse to acknowledge it exists, because of the bizarre symptoms

patients are diagnosed as delusional.

" Believe me, if I just randomly saw one of these patients in my office, I

would think they were crazy too, " Savely said. " But after you've heard the story

of over 100 (patients) and they're all — down to the most minute detail —

saying the exact same thing, that becomes quite impressive. "

developed Morgellons just over a year ago. He called his mother

in to see a fiber coming out of a lesion.

" It looked like a piece of spaghetti was sticking out about a quarter to an

eighth of an inch long and it was sticking out of his chest, "

said. " I tried to pull it as hard as I could out and I could not pull it out. "

The 's spent $14,000 after insurance last year on doctors and medicine.

" Most of them are antibiotics. He was on Tamadone for pain. Viltricide, this

was an anti-parasitic. This was to try and protect his skin because of all

the lesions and stuff, " said.

However, nothing worked, and 23-year-old could no longer take it.

" I knew he was going to kill himself, and there was nothing I could do to

stop him, " said.

Just two weeks ago, took his life.

developed the lesions four-and-a-half years ago.

" The lesions come up, and then these fuzzy things like spores come out, " she

said.

She also has the crawling sensation.

" You just want to get it out of you, " said.

She has no idea what caused the disease, and nothing has worked to clear it

up.

" They (doctors) told me I was just doing this to myself, that I was nuts. So

basically I stopped going to doctors because I was afraid they were going to

lock me up, " said.

Harriett Bishop has battled Morgellons for 12 years. After a year on

antibiotics, her hands have nearly cleared up. On the day, we visited her she

only

had one lesion and she extracted this fiber from it.

" You want to get these things out to relieve the pain, and that's why you

pull and then you can see the fibers there, and the tentacles are there, and

there are millions of them, " Bishop said.

So far, pathologists have failed to find any infection in the fibers pulled

from lesions.

" Clearly something is physically happening here, " said Dr. Randy Wymore, a

researcher at the Morgellons Research Foundation at Oklahoma State University's

Center for Health Sciences.

Wymore examines the fibers, scabs and other samples from Morgellon's patients

to try and find the disease's cause.

" These fibers don't look like common environmental fibers, " he said.

The goal at OSU is to scientifically find out what is going on. Until then,

patients and doctors struggle with this mysterious and bizarre infection. Thus

far, the only treatment that has showed some success is an antibiotic.

" It sounds a little like a parasite, like a fungal infection, like a

bacterial infection, but it never quite fits all the criteria of any known

pathogen, " Savely said

No one knows how Morgellans is contracted, but it does not appear to be

contagious. The states with the highest number of cases are Texas, California

and

Florida.

The only connection found so far is that more than half of the Morgellons

patients are also diagnosed with Lyme disease.

For more information on Morgellons, visit the research foundation's Web site

at _www.morgellons.org_ (http://www.morgellons.org/) .